Foundation of Istanbul University Faculty of Sciences Geophysical Institute and its contribution to the development of geophysics in Turkey (1926-1977)

In the history of science, it is known that modernization and specialization in many disciplines of science began after the period called the Scientific Revolution in the literature. One of these disciplines of science is geophysics. However, geophysics completed its development later than other disciplines dealing with the Earth. With the end of the nineteenth century, modern geophysics emerged. The twentieth century, on the other hand, has been recorded as the century in which geophysics showed great development in both theoretical and practical terms. At the same time, from the beginning of the nineteenth century, the first Geophysical Institutes appeared in Europe. When we look at Turkey, geophysics first started to be applied by public institutions in a practical manner. For the first time in Darülfünun, Geophysics courses were added to the education program under the roof of a university. The institutionalization of the researches is seen when Istanbul University Faculty of Science decided to establish a Geophysics Institute since 1948. In our thesis, it is aimed to search an answer to the reason why an independent institute was established to carry out education and research on Geophysics under the roof of a university in Turkey. In this regard, the reasons underlying the establishment of the Institute of Geophysics, the aims to be achieved as a result of the establishment of the institute, its function and fields of activity, the work areas of the graduates of the institute, the postgraduate studies made by the students trained in the institute and the contributions made to the field of geophysics at Istanbul University are tried to determined. Additionally, the biographies of local and foreign directors and professors working at the Geophysics Institute and professionals from abroad, the subjects on which their fields of activity focus, the courses given at the institute, the books, journals and tools purchased to the institute.